[Interview] Kim Su-young, Yangcheon District Mayor: "Dreaming of 'Healing, Leap, Together' and a 'Resilience City'"

Yangcheon District Mayor Kim Su-young Presents New Vision for 2022, the Year of Im-in: 'Resilience' to Enhance Crisis Response in Rapidly Changing Future Society through 'Healing,' 'Leap,' and 'Inclusion'... # Plan Connecting Four Pillars to Upgrade Residents' Quality of Life through Regional Balanced Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “The year 2022 for Yangcheon-gu will be a year of ‘healing’ and ‘leap forward.’ We cannot do it alone. No matter what crisis comes beyond COVID-19, we will quickly recover and lead growth beyond that by working ‘together’ with residents and the local community.”

Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, expressed this resolution for the new year of Im-in-nyeon (壬寅年) in an interview with Asia Economy. Mayor Kim presented “resilience” as the vision for the new year. This expresses a firm determination not only to overcome the second or third crisis that may come at any time but also to restore daily life and secure future growth engines.

Having been at the forefront of quarantine efforts, Mayor Kim revealed plans to comfort residents’ bodies and minds through culture flowing in daily life and parks and gardens near their homes amid the prolonged COVID-19 situation. He said, “Through the promotion of a cultural city and the garden city brand that Yangcheon-gu is preparing, we will cultivate the power of healing.” Yangcheon-gu is aiming to be designated as a legal cultural city by the second half of 2023. If designated as a legal cultural city through the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s evaluation, it can receive national budget support and various administrative assistance for five years.

Also, “Two cultural facilities in Yangcheon-gu are set to open this year. The Galsan Culture and Arts Center, opening in February, will be specialized as a ‘family theater.’ It is preparing not only children’s performances but also brunch concerts for mothers and venue rentals for year-end performances of local kindergartens and schools,” he said. “Additionally, the Youth Music Creation Center will open in June this year. It will be a place for youth to fully express their cultural and artistic creativity and for residents to enjoy various performances,” he added.

The renovation project of the five major parks along the Mokdong central axis is also steadily progressing. Following Yangcheon Park, Paris Park is expected to showcase a new look this year. Paris Park, created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic relations, will become a regional landmark through renovation that highlights its special historical significance and symbolism. The district is also accelerating the creation of the second urban agriculture park and the project to make Anyangcheon a famous spot.

Yangcheon Park and Neomeundeul Park’s book resting areas, which have been recognized for presenting a new paradigm of urban parks, will continue to expand. The core idea of Yangcheon-gu’s ‘garden city’ is to organically connect mountains, Anyangcheon, and large and small parks and paths to make the entire Yangcheon-gu one large forest, park, and trail.

The leap for one step of growth will continue. By broadly providing various educational opportunities in humanities, arts, and science and technology required for the future era, it aims to reduce educational polarization and apply smart technologies in various fields such as transportation, environment, safety, and welfare. Through life-centered administration, residents will directly experience an improvement in their quality of life.

The lifelong learning center and smart creative talent center, remodeled last year at Sinjeong Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, are equipped with advanced IT equipment for digital education as well as shared kitchens and shared office spaces for prospective entrepreneurs. Features include various mixed reality experiences such as a digital safety experience center and a smart media lounge. Moving away from humanities and liberal arts-oriented programs, it provides lifelong education services optimized for the rapidly changing future learning paradigm. In the future, smart future education hub facilities will be established by region so that residents can develop diverse capabilities and prepare for future society.

This year, a ‘digital twin’ administrative service that predicts flooding of Anyangcheon due to heavy rain and suggests effective evacuation routes will also be introduced. ‘Digital twin’ creates a virtual space identical to reality to conduct various simulations, a technology that solves urban problems through scientific decision-making.

Redevelopment and urban regeneration projects in aging residential areas will continue. Currently, Sinwol 7-dong is undergoing redevelopment, and Mok 2-dong is advancing a station-area urban maintenance-type redevelopment project. Urban regeneration New Deal projects in Mok 3, Sinwol 1, and Sinwol 3-dong, as well as the ‘10-minute neighborhood living SOC project’ in Mok 4-dong, are also underway. Mayor Kim said, “We will introduce the concept of resilience into housing policy and urban planning to enhance the city’s disaster response capacity and create a balanced city.” He also forecasted, “The Mokdong Line and Gangbuk Transversal Light Rail Transit projects have been selected for the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s preliminary feasibility study, which will open the way to resolving transportation disparities between regions.”

He further explained the reason for aiming for an ‘inclusive city’ and a ‘carbon-neutral city’ by saying, “Ultimately, overcoming crises requires coexistence between people and people, and between nature and people.” He continued, “The direction of an inclusive city is to restore community consciousness through a virtuous cycle of life so that no one is left out. Recently, digital gaps have been growing due to digital vaccine pass certification and unmanned kiosk ordering methods. Last year, through the generation connection and kiosk experience zone projects, we deeply felt the need for experience and education for digitally marginalized groups.”

As the first autonomous district in Seoul to enact an ordinance supporting the creation of green buildings, Yangcheon-gu will newly start the ‘Green Building Creation Support Project’ and the ‘Electric Bicycle Purchase Cost Support Project’ this year to improve the living environment and energy performance of aging houses in the area and wisely respond to carbon neutrality and climate change crises. By additionally installing 18 fast chargers for electric vehicles this year and continuously promoting the ‘Zero Energy Park Conversion Project’ to achieve energy self-sufficiency in about 130 parks in the area, the plan is to create a city that coexists with nature.

The “H-Plan,” proposed as a regional balanced development strategy when Mayor Kim Soo-young took office in the 7th local government, was upgraded to the 2022 #Plan with an additional axis. Mayor Kim emphasized, “The hashtag (#) symbolizes communication and sharing on SNS and is also a musical symbol instructing to raise a semitone. Connecting the four ABCD axes?Advance (transportation and residential environment improvement), Botanical (green and ecological preservation and expansion), Culture (cultural infrastructure), and Develop (future-oriented smart reconstruction and urban regeneration)?forms the shape of a hashtag (#). Through this, we will upgrade the quality of life and achieve synergy effects among projects to complete regional balanced development.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.